NITED NATIONS--Some 8,000 women and men marched 8,000 women and men
marched here last week to draw attention to the plight of half of the
world’s six billion people that live on less than two dollars a day.

The march was to commemorate the International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty held on 17 October. The Fédération des femmes du Québec, a
Canadian NGO, in collaboration with 5,000 NGOs from 159 countries
organized the march. Fatoumata Sire Diakite, one of the main organizers
of the march, said in the press conference that the reason the march
took place at the UN was that it has a high concentration of
delegations in its vicinity. It aimed to advocate UN members to take
concrete measures on poverty reduction which were agreed upon at the
World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, and more
recently, at the last month’s Millennium Summit Declaration.

“We are asking the United Nations Secretary-General to push member
states to do what they said and what they signed. Countries signed many
conventions, but they don’t do anything about it,” said Diakite.

The march was also held at the World Bank and IMF in Washington last
Sunday, mainly calling for debt cancellation for the highly indebted
countries.

“We asked the World Bank and IMF to change the microeconomic programs
they have in developing countries," said Diakite. "and to assess the
impact of these programs at the grassroots level. We asked them to
listen to the women at the grassroots level. If they ask women, not the
government, they will find out that the programs are failing.”

The march has brought together various participants from different NGOs
and interest groups including reproductive health supporters, anti-child
labor groups, anti-violence proponents and HIV/AIDS activists.

“I am here to show my solidarity to the people in developing countries,"
one of the march participant from Pakistan said. "who are not benefiting
from globalization."

According to a UN study, efforts to reduce poverty have brought many
benefits to people in developing countries. Over all, increased school
attendance rates, improved access to health care, reduced infant
mortality rates and expanded average life expectancy demonstrate great
improvements.

In his message, the Secretary-General said that what is missing is the
member countries’ will to eradicate poverty. He called for developed
nations “to provide meaningful debt relief, remove protectionist
barriers against exports from the poorest countries, and to spend more
than just a
negligible fraction of income on development assistance.”

Annan added, the importance of a stronger effort by developing countries
“to fight corruption, to put an end to persistent conflict, and to build
a platform of good governance.”